How do we study in COVID times? What should our focus be? Should students be sitting for hours in front of the computer, zooming from subject to subject learning even less than they did before? With nothing to engross them as schools go online and pretend its business as usual, flogging the “syllabus needs to be completed “ story; learning is being sacrificed again.
E-learning, Zoom and the disappearance of the School Playground
As institutions grapple with the new norm “online”, “virtual”, “webinar” very little attention is being paid to the experience that is education. The palpable noise, the high-fiveing, the rushing to the playground, the chattering with friends, the conversations, and laughter are all part of schooling.
Social and emotional interaction, quarreling and making up, understanding and responding to body language, compassion, empathy, are all learned in the school environment. It gives us a life away from home, our arena of triumphs, and failures that subtly influence us and shape our identity. Much of our growing and learning by association happens here.
It is clear that four hours of classes is not going to cut it. Unless you are binge watching a TVseries nobody likes to be glued to the screen. I was doing a few courses online and I knew that I did not want to engage for more than ten hours a week. I wanted it to be self-paced, I wanted flexible timings and I did not want to submit assignments! I forgot to mention if I didn’t enjoy the course I simply dropped out and looked for something more engaging! And, this when I wanted to learn!
Most kids are resigned learners. They interact in an environment that allows little or no room to experiment or explore their interests. The burden of navigating a boring syllabus, taught monotonously takes a toll, and learning is sacrificed.
Responses to, “What did you learn in school today?” invariably are “I don’t know, stuff”. And, so the parents promptly make sure that tutors bridge the gap in learning. The classroom somehow becomes a space of forced confinement.
Education needs to be Re-visited
This is an opportunity for schools to revisit how education should be imparted. It is time to make the academic experience about life skills, about adapting to change, about looking ahead with an understanding that things cannot go on like before. It would be worthwhile for any educational institute to bring in experts for brief sessions so as to breathe new life into the trying school calendar.
Introduce students to the art of writing, the importance of reading, decoding calculus, the internet of things, art and life, historical figures, etiquette, empathetic communication, coding, world museums, Indian music and art, ethics, and integrity, dealing with pressure, comprehensive life skills, etc. Education can no longer be confined to rote learning. It needs to factor in the idea of a world view and fire the imagination of young minds.
“Education should instill confidence in children about their future; it should encourage them to carve their destinies from the bellies of their interests and passions. The current system sets false hopes, pushing to create an army of 95 percentiles headed nowhere. It sets them up for grand failures without teaching them how to face disappointments or encouraging their small victories or inspiring them to rise like Phoenixes from the ashes of their despair."
A Great Opportunity and the Need of the Hour
It is time to introduce students to their potential, expose them to the joy of learning. Now that we have the platform for self-paced study, institutions need to find a balance between the demands of industry and a misguided system that robs the students of the will to learn. We have pockets of learning centers that foster a love for learning, that nurture different intelligences and celebrate individual talent, and that encourage questioning.
We need to inject some of these practices into mainstream schools. We have an opportunity to bring a love for learning back into education and stop this indoctrination that promotes mediocrity.
If all schools decided to invite educators who are authorities in their field, or have experts that teach art ,drama, photography, gaming or coding 2 hours a week or better still cross-pollinate with the best practices from different schools the learning experience of all students would be richer.
E-learning makes this doable and cost effective, plus the outreach is phenomenal. People might argue, “Why can’t students do this on their own?” The answer is, they can, but when schools do it there is a palpable seriousness to the initiative.
A Hybrid Model – a mix of Online and Offline Classes could be the way forward
What then do we need to do as we accept the new reality? Are we going to carry on in the same vain? I am told that students are being made to stay up till eleven at night attending classes or doing a class test. It seems the teachers have decided that they can have a class any time that is convenient for them.
Now that most academics are being pursued via the internet it is perhaps time for some teachers to take on more students than before; creating a parallel system that feeds on the anxiety of the paranoid parent. This could become a lost opportunity if parents succumb to the idea of “good grades” regardless of the changed scenario.
We should be looking at a hybrid model, small classes on certain days of the week in school, and lecture hall numbers online. The in-school session could be about addressing doubts, ideating, critiquing, mentoring and hand-holding. Surprise the students when they come to school, make learning fun, loosen up, and for God’s sake create an environment that is charged with excitement so that it draws the student to explore the world of learning in its myriad shades.